Twists of Fate
by AkimaDoll
Summary: AU. What happens when a newcomer to the City has a surprising connection with one of the City's leaders? Authors Note posted 2-28-08
1. Who's the Newbi?

Yay! I've finally gotten around to re-posting the three previously posted chapters, so you may want to re-read them before going on to later chapters.

This story has slight SG1 crossovers, is AU (although I am going to attempt to follow cannon... which is hard since I've only actually seen four episodes of season 2), has an OC who is a mary-sue.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I am making no money, don't sue me!

* * *

Dr. Rodney McKay was sitting at the Atlantis mainframe, tinkering around doing something only he would understand when, suddenly, the Stargate activated.

"Unauthorized Incoming Wormhole!" Dr. McKay exclaimed into his radio as he activated the force-shield over the gate.

"Who is it?" Dr Elizabeth Weir asked as she came to stand behind Rodney.

"We are receiving a transmission" replied Rodney. "Patching through…"

"Atlantis Base, this is General O'Neill" interrupted Jack O'Neill himself, via the radio.

Exchanging shocked looks with Rodney, Elizabeth answered. "Dr. Weir here General. To what do we owe this honor?"

"Someone figured out an experimental way to power the Gate from our end, so we are sending you some supplies, and some new personnel who missed the deadline to hop a ride with the Daedalus. We aren't exactly sure how long we can keep our connection though, so do we have a go ahead to send them through?" O'Neill queried.

"Lower the shield" Weir said to McKay. "Send them through General." Weir said. Turning back to Rodney, Elizabeth asked "can you call Colonel Sheppard to the gate room?"

There was a pause, and then O'Neill continued transmitting as the first supplies started arriving. "Five scientists of various fields, and a Linguist who has the Ancient Gene so strongly that she rivals Colonel Shepard, or so Colonel Carter informs me" as he spoke, the people came through the gate. Three men and three women. They were followed by more equipment. "Well, that's everything from our end; did they get there in one piece?" O'Neil finished.

"Yes general, they all appear to be here intact. Is that all?" Elizabeth queried.

"That's all Doctor, Earth out" and with that the gate shut off.

* * *

_At The SGC…_

Brigadier General Jack O'Neill stood in the Stargate control room with Colonel Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson, watching the personnel heading to Atlantis follow two drones loaded with equipment and personal belongings.

Jack looked past Sam, and watched Daniel. The look of disappointment on his friends face was actually slightly comedic. Turning back towards the Stargate, only one person had yet to go through. She turned, waved, then turned back to the gate and stepped through the event horizon, which cut out as soon as they had confirmation that everyone and everything had arrived safely in Pegasus.

Trading glances with Sam, Jack walked over to Daniel and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Daniel, if you miss her that much, we can always send you on a vacation to Pegasus".

Daniel just looked at him for a second, then said in a very sarcastic tone "gee, thanks Jack" and walked away, probably going back to his lab.

Looking after his friend feeling slightly miffed, Jack asked Sam "Am I missing something here?"

"Well Sir" replied Sam, "They did get pretty close. With you in Washington now, Teal'c spending more time off world dealing with the Jaffa High Council, and me at Area 51 so often, Daniel has been pretty lonely". Sam paused for a second, letting a wry smile cross her face. "It also probably doesn't hurt that she happened to be an attractive, single female, who happened to… well, you know".

Trading smiles with Sam, Jack commented "I just hope she will be safer on Atlantis than she could ever be here… and I would love to see the looks on everyone's faces when she comes through that gate, certain people are in for one hell of a shock!"

Sam looked back at her former team leader with a grin. "That they are, Sir".

* * *

_Atlantis, as the Gate shuts off_

Dr. Weir was starting to walk to great the new arrivals when Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagen joined her coming from opposite directions.

"What's going on Elizabeth? Who are they?" John Sheppard asked as he noticed the new arrivals.

"They, Colonel Sheppard, are some new personnel sent from Earth, along with new supplies. I called you here to help greet them" looking askance at John, Elizabeth continued "apparently one of them has the ATA gene as strongly as you"

"Well isn't that something" John replied drolly, rolling his eyes. "That's good for me: now there is someone else for the scientists to use as their personal guinea pig".

Elizabeth just rolled her eyes at John. Looking at Teyla, Elizabeth asked "where is Ronan?"

"I believe he went to the mainland with Dr. Beckett" Teyla replied. "They are expected to return soon, that is why I was coming this way when I heard the Stargate activate"

"Well, shall we great the new arrivals?" Elizabeth asked.

"By all means, lead the way" John replied with a mock bow and flourish. Walking down the stairs from the command room to the gate room, Elizabeth, John, Rodney, and Teyla proceeded to meet and greet five of the new arrivals, sending them with some military personnel to find some living quarters. Finally only one was left, hanging back from the group looking at the Stargate. At a tap on the shoulder from Dr. Weir, the sixth person spun around. She was obviously the odd ball out of the group: She didn't look to be more than 23 or 24, a nose piercing that definitely made her stand out among the older more sedate scientists, and a pair of piercing blue eyes that seemed so familiar to Elizabeth in a way she couldn't quite pin down.

"Hello, I am Dr. Elizabeth Weir, Welcome to Atlantis" said Elizabeth as she held out her hand. Gesturing to each in turn Elizabeth added "and this is Dr. Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagen, and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard". As both Rodney and Teyla were introduced the young woman offered them both genuine smiles. As Colonel Sheppard was introduced the smile turned wry.

"_Colonel _Sheppard?" said the newcomer with a strange look on her face, "didn't everyone say you would never make it past Captain?"

"Cami" replied Shepard with an equally strange expression.

Looking between the two, slightly miffed, Dr Weir posed the question "You two have met?"

"I guess you could say that" replied the newcomer. "Please excuse my bad manners, I am Dr. Camilla Sheppard, and it is a pleasure to meet you all".

"Sheppard?" interjected Rodney with a quizzical look on his face.

"_Doctor _Sheppard?" interrupted John, his voice cold. "How did you get here?"

"Uh, it's called a Stargate" replied Cami

"Yes it is, and now you are going to turn around and go right back through it" John shot back with a grim expression, cutting off Camilla before she could protest. "Unless you start telling me right now exactly why and how you are here" crossing his arms over his chest, he glared at Cami waiting for an answer.

Elizabeth had never heard John speak to any base personnel like this, (except for possibly Kavanagh…), and was shocked. Noticing that Dr. Sheppard had adopted a similar stance to Colonel Sheppard, identical pairs of blue eyes glaring at each other.

Elizabeth exchanged looks with Rodney and Teyla, and decided to wait to see what happened next before intervening. Everyone studied the face of the newcomer with interest as she started her reply. Suddenly the familiar blue eyes of the newcomer started to make sense in Elizabeth's head.

"Well John" Cami said, with more than a touch of sarcasm in her voice, "It all started a few days after you up and disappeared, when the Air Force came banging down my door, requesting a sample of my blood. I assumed they needed it because my idiotic big brother had done something stupid and gotten hurt. Two days later, I get yanked to an Air Force base, stuck in a room, asked to sign a bunch of non-disclosure forms, and then they told the craziest story I have ever heard. You know what they told me John? They said that you weren't in Antarctica where I thought you were. They said you were in another Galaxy, in the Lost City of _Atlantis_ no less. They told me about Alien attacks, spaceships, and this thing called the Stargate. And then they told me about these people called the Ancients, and that I had a gene that enabled me to operate technology they left behind. So I decided to take up the offer to do something good for my species, and learn how to use Ancient technology. See, that's when we discovered down in Antarctica that not only can I use the Ancient technology, but I can read their language as easily as if it were English. So, when I found out that the SGC was planning on sending more personnel now that Atlantis has a ZPM and the Daedalus is fully functional, I requested a transfer. Question answered John?"

At the end of Cami's rant, everyone stood silent for a moment.

Looking down at the ground, Cami looked distinctly abashed.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone off like that" Cami said quietly.

"Actually, if what I gathered from you just said correctly, you have every right to be upset" Elizabeth said, putting a sympathetic hand on Cami's arm. "You're Colonel Shepard's sister?"

Now that they were standing next to each other, the resemblances between the two Shepard's were unmistakable: eyes, hair color, skin tone, and height. Camilla Shepard was just an inch shorter than John Shepard, with a much more refined face and lighter bone structure.

"Yes, she is" John said quietly. Everyone looked at him. "And if no one objects, I would like to show Cami to her quarters now" reaching down, John picked up the bag that had been beside Cami. "This yours?"

"Yeah, the rest of my things are loaded on one of the MALP's

"Lets go" John said as he started to walk away.

"Colonel Shepard, please be ready for the briefing in one hour". Elizabeth said to the departing personnel. Upon receiving a nod from a departing Colonel Sheppard, she turned to Rodney and Teyla. "Well that was interesting. I guess I have some reading to do" she said, indicating the disc of personnel files that one of the scientists had handed her upon their arrival.

"Then I shall leave you to it, Doctor" Teyla replied before departing. Rodney just shook his head and went back to tinkering on the mainframe. Even though he was dieing of curiosity, he would find everything out soon enough, Atlantis being the rumor mill that it was.

Elizabeth walked back into her office, sat down in her desk chair, and loaded the disc into her computer. She scrolled to the file named, "Shepard, Dr. Camilla J." and started reading.

* * *

John Sheppard led his younger sister through a veritable maze of passages towards the sections of Atlantis that were being used as living quarters in almost total silence, broken only by John pointing out landmarks along the way. Soon they had reached the room that would be Cami's, and stepped inside. As soon as the door shut itself, John rounded on his sister. 

"What the hell are you doing here Cami? And where the hell does Marie think you are? I know she would never have been granted security clearance to know about any of this".

Cami surveyed her brother calmly, and walked to the bed and sat down before replying. "Mom is dead".

John stopped the pacing he had sub-consciously started and stared at Cami in disbelief. A million jumbled thoughts had been running through his head ever since he had seen his baby sister staring up at the Stargate earlier. Walking over to where Cami was sitting, he sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry sweetie. When, how?" he asked with a much quieter, concerned tone of voice than that which he had used before.

"It was mom's latest looser, Roy. He drank. A lot. He even somehow convinced mom to stop visiting me. We had huge arguments over him". Cami stopped her halting speech for a second, before continuing on in a wooden voice that held no emotion. "The bar called mom and asked her to pick up Roy because he was too drunk to stand, let alone drive, so she went to get him. They ended up getting hit by an out of control Semi on the way home. It was two days after you deployed with this expedition." Cami stopped again to compose herself, and then went on. "I think that's how the Air Force found me, because I was trying to reach you through the Red Cross to tell you. I know you don't have any family listed in your personnel file, so they never knew about me before that". Cami hugged her knees to her chest, putting her chin on her knees.

John pulled her into a hug. They sat that way for a moment, thinking, when John finally broke the silence, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, since you obviously know what I have been up to for the past two years, what have you been doing?"

Cami laughed, "Well, I got my Doctorate, obviously, and I'd been teaching at Harvard until I was brought into the program. After that I was shipped to Antarctica for eight months, then they moved me to area 51 for about six weeks, and then to the SGC to work with the scientists there. I've been there ever since".

John stared at Cami. "You were at the SGC? Why didn't I see you when we were all back on Earth, or at the every least, why didn't anyone tell me about you being brought in?"

Cami laughed at him, rolling her eyes. "For starters, when you were back on Earth at the SGC, I was at Area 51. Secondly, you and I being siblings was classified at a very high level. Only a few people knew, and the ones who did had been ordered not to tell anyone, including you". John chuckled wryly at the thought that his security clearance didn't include knowing his sister was a part of the Stargate program, as Cami stood up from the bed, and started to walk around her new quarters, exploring.

"So, Area 51? How was it? See any little green men?"

"John, you know as well as I do that the Asgard are blue". They both chuckled at that because the Asgard are actually grey, before Cami went on. "Honestly, all I really did at Area 51 was confirm that Ancient texts had been translated correctly. They finally sent me to the SGC because they got sick of all the random bits of Ancient technology turning on whenever I walked into a room or touched something". Cami watched John's face as she continued hesitantly, knowing that John would find out as soon as he read her file. "And there may have been a slight incident involving an X302 that many people would like to forget…"

John stood up, looking his sister straight on. "A 'slight incident'? Cami, what did you do?" he asked, sounding slightly exasperated.

"I was being taken on a cruise flight, when the pilot passed out. I had to fly us back to the Prometheus" Cami said nonchalantly.

"And where exactly were you when the pilot passed out?"

"The Rings of Saturn".

John choked, coughing as he attempted to yell "WHAT! And they just let you fly back?"

"Relax John, I have my pilot's license, so it's not like I'd never flown something before, and someone stayed in radio contact with me the whole time. I got us back ok" Cami replied laughing. Silence settled over the room again as John processed what she had just told him.

John watched her for another minute, before asking "You aren't going to have a problem working with me, are you?" Cami looked at him from where she stood in the doorway of her bathroom, shocked. John continued on, "You know, after that argument we had before I transferred to Antarctica".

"No, I put that behind me a long time ago. Besides, you were right: I was too young; and he was a looser. You won't mind working with me, will you?" she replied, now walking towards a second set of doors. Palming them open, Cami gasped before John could reply. "I have a balcony?" she exclaimed, incredulous and wide eyed as she stepped outside, surveying the view of the city and the ocean.

"Yeah, I figured the balcony would come in handy for when you want to play your violin" John said with a grin as he joined her outside.

"Wow, Atlantis is beautiful" Cami said, awed, as she looked out at the towers of Atlantis. "Wait, how do you know I even brought my violin with me?"

"Because, I brought my guitar". Cami looked at him askance, challenging him with a look. "Plus, I could feel the case in your bag while I was carrying it". John and Cami both laughed, enjoying the 'sibling moment'. Looking at Cami again, John gave her another hug. "By the way, I could never have trouble working with you, just as long as you obey orders when you have to. I need to go talk with Elizabeth before the briefing, but afterwards I'll show you around the City. Do you remember the way back to the Gate room?"

Camilla nodded, "yeah I do, but how am I supposed to know when to meet you?"

"Oh, I forgot you don't have a radio yet. I'll come grab you once the briefing is over. It shouldn't take long" John paused, before adding in amused exasperation "at least it shouldn't take long if we manage to tape Rodney's mouth shut".

Cami grinned. "Don't worry about it; I'll use the time to start unpacking."

"See you later Cami" John said as he headed to the door

"Later John"

* * *

As John was leaving Cami's quarters, he ran into Elizabeth. 

"I was just coming to ask you if we could have a word privately before the briefing, John" Elizabeth queried as they walked together towards her office.

"Sure. I know you are bound to have questions" John replied with a chagrined look on his face, knowing that he was in for a patented Dr. Elizabeth Weir Telling-Off. The two walked in 'companionable' silence until they were in Weir's office with the door shut. Taking her seat, Elizabeth gestured for John to sit as well

"I thought you didn't have any family" Elizabeth stated, sounding more than a little bit miffed, "so you must understand that it comes as a slight shock to have your _sister_ of all people be assigned to this expedition. Most men tell their girlfriend about siblings".

"It's a long story Elizabeth. Camilla is my half-sister. The product of my father having an affair". John replied a guarded expression. "I didn't know about her until I was 18, when I found a letter my dad was writing to Cami's mother, along with some money he was planning on sending. I don't think my mother ever knew, and let's just say that when I confronted my dad with what I had found, that things didn't go over too well". John paused before going on. "My Dad told me to never tell anyone, saying it would destroy his career, and any chance I had at one, if anyone found out. Against my own better judgment I listened to him. Two weeks later my parents were killed in a car crash. That was two weeks before I was set to start at the Air Force Academy.

Elizabeth was watching John intently, waiting for him to continue.

"It wasn't until two years later that I met Cami. She's twelve years younger than me, so at that point she was an 8 year old. We got pretty close over the years, keeping in touch with letters, and calls. Then 9/11 happened, I was deployed to Afghanistan, and we didn't speak for two years. We got together to talk before I shipped out to Antarctica. Until today, we hadn't spoken since that one night three years ago, when we had the fight of all fights".

"What did you fight about?"

"It was stupid: Cami had met this guy, and she was going to marry him and follow him into the military. I tried to talk her out of it because I thought that she was too young". John paused for a moment, before adding in a disgusted tone "and the guy was a real dumb-ass, definitely not good enough for her."

Elizabeth cracked a smile, easily able to picture John as an over-protective older brother. "So what did she do when you told her that?"

"She slapped me, said I should stop trying to tell her what to do, told me she never wanted to see me again, and stormed out". John rubbed his jaw wryly in remembrance, "she has one hell of a backswing".

Silence reigned for a moment, until Elizabeth broke it. "And now she is here, on Atlantis" she said quietly.

"Indeed she is" John replied. "But don't worry about us working together, we worked things out earlier"

"Good" replied Elizabeth as she opened the file on Dr. Sheppard on her tablet PC, scanning it. "Because she is unbelievably well qualified to be a member of this expedition, despite her age, and I refuse to send her back to the SGC. Her file says she graduated High School with a 4.0 GPA, and perfect SAT/ACT scores at age 14. Undergrad, Masters, and Doctorate all from Harvard, all before she was 21. Double major in Linguistics and Cryptography, Minor in Music. She is fluent in 15 modern languages, Can read, write and _speak_ fluent Ancient, and Asgard, and can also read Wraith with a bit of effort… She has been on a few off-world missions with various SG teams, mostly recon but some combat, has combat training, and a pilot's license. She has recommendations from most of the top level personnel at the SGC, including personal commendations from Generals Hammond, O'Neill, and Landry, Colonel Carter, and Dr. Jackson. She is one hell of an accomplished 24 year old". Elizabeth paused for a second, "did you know all of that?" she asked John.

John was astounded. "I knew some of it, like the stuff about when she graduated High School, and what she majored in at Harvard, but I had no idea about most of the other stuff". John stopped, taking hold of the tablet PC when Elizabeth handed it to him.

After a few minutes, John finished scanning his sister's file, handing the PC back to Elizabeth, a humorous expression coming over his face before he burst out laughing. Elizabeth leaned back in her chair and raised her eyebrows at John.

"Care to let me in on the joke before we have to get to the briefing?" she queried as she checked her watch.

"I was wondering how Rodney is going to react to all this" John replied jokingly, breaking out into more laughter.

Elizabeth cracked a grin and joined John laughing. "I have no idea, but if your sister is anywhere near as bull-headed as you, it should be interesting!"

"Hey! I'm not bull-headed!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

They continued bickering the whole way over to the briefing room.

* * *

Review? you know you want to! 


	2. Welcome to Atlantis

An edited, chopped, and added to re-post of the original chapter 2.

Disclaimer: It's the writers/producers sandbox, I'm just building my humble sand-castle.

* * *

Three quarters of SGA1 were already assembled in the conference room when John and Elizabeth walked in. Before John could even get to his chair, he was pelted with questions from Rodney.

"How come you never told anyone you have a sister?"

Trading a knowing glance with Elizabeth, John replied "why didn't you tell anyone about your sister Rodney?"

"Because I don't have a good relationship with her" Rodney replied with a shrug.

"And there you have your answer" John retorted with a smart-assed smile.

"Yes, but…"

"Boys, you can bicker later. Lets get on with the briefing, shall we?" said Elizabeth as she and John traded amused glances at Rodney's typical antics. Elizabeth continued, "The upcoming mission to M9X 775 is scheduled for two days from now. John, will that give you time to assess and clear Dr. Sheppard for off-world duty?"

John looked Elizabeth dead on in the eyes, shocked. "What? You want Cami to come with us?"

Elizabeth met his gaze unflinchingly. "Yes, I do. You need someone who can translate the writings on the temple walls to see if they are anything worth while. It looks like Dr. Sheppard arrived just in time". Elizabeth gave him a slightly evil smile before adding on "If it helps, consider it a direct order. Besides, you know what her file says".

"I am not sure if that's such a good idea, Dr. Weir" Ronon objected. "I don't know if I would want the liability of an untrained scientist joining us".

"Dr. Sheppard received combat training back on earth, Ronon. If she doesn't pass Colonel Sheppard's inspection, then she won't be accompanying you" Elizabeth replied. "Will that satisfy you?"

The big Satedan nodded in acquiescence, allowing the meeting to continue, with Rodney inevitably prattling on about the ruins that AG3 had discovered on their aerial sweep of the otherwise unpopulated planet.

Eventually, everything on the agenda had been covered, and everyone was planning to go their various ways. John made sure to stop and grab Cami a radio before he headed to her quarters for the promised tour, leaving Elizabeth to work on her never-ending piles of paperwork, Ronon and Teyla to head to the gym for some sparring, and Rodney to go tinker with some newly discovered ancient gadget while driving the rest of the science staff to the brink of insanity.

* * *

Cami was in her apartment unpacking her things, clothes and books sitting in jumbled piles waiting to be sorted, while a vast array of weapons were neatly placed in easy-to-reach places, two laptops sat on a table, and along with a violin case, a guitar was propped carefully against the wall next to her bed. Cami pulled the last thing out of the trunk that had been delivered to her quarters by some Marines: a photo album. Sitting on her bed, Cami opened it, leafing through the photos, pausing at a picture that had been taken at her High School graduation. 

A grinning, 14 year old cap-and-gown wearing, diploma-in-hand Cami stood between a younger, smiling John wearing his Dress Blues, and a tall blonde woman with curly hair and sparkling eyes wearing a sundress, who was glowing with pride. Cami smiled down at the image of her mother, remembering what she had been like when Cami had been younger

A knock on her door caused her to snap out of her reverie. Cami tossed aside the photo album, and wiped away the tears that had risen unbidden at the recollection of her mother.

"Come in"

The door slid open, and John stepped in, surveying the ordered chaos that had consumed Cami's room with interest. His gaze took in the various weapons placed about the room: knives, throwing stars, two sets of Sai', even what appeared to be a pair of fighting sticks like the ones Teyla used, made from metal. John handed Cami the radio he had brought for her.

"Well, I see you either have a fascination with sharp pointy objects, or you take your hand-to-hand seriously" he said jokingly, as he walked over to the bed and sat down. "Do you know how to use all this stuff?"

"Do you think I would have bothered to bring it all here if I didn't?" Cami asked, walking to her bookcase, putting her new radio on before picking up one of the Sai that were there, twirling it idly.

"When did you learn? Last time we talked back on Earth, you were pretty pacifistic on a whole, possible enlistment in the armed forces notwithstanding."

Cami mused for a moment, still twirling the Sai. "Five years ago, about two weeks after you got sent to Afghanistan. I was attacked leaving a party at Boston College. I couldn't fight them off; they were too strong for me". Cami stopped talking for a second. Finally looking up at her brother, Cami went on. "After that night I decided to never be vulnerable again. I started taking mixed marshal arts classes the next day".

"You got attacked? Did they..?

"No, they just wanted to rough me up. You know, a drunken Frat boy's version of fun" Cami replied before John could get his question out in full. Deciding that a drastic change of subject was in order, Cami set down the Sai, and asked "so you and Elizabeth, how long have you two been together?"

John gave his sister a nonchalant look, trying to hide his shock, before asking "what are you talking about?"

Cami gave her older brother a disgusted look. "John, just because I'm young and new here, doesn't mean that I am blind. I see how you two look at each other. Who else knows?"

He just glared at her for a minute, finally deciding to tell her the truth. "Elizabeth and I have been seeing each other since our return trip from Earth. Only Teyla, Ronon Dex, Rodney McKay, Carson Beckett, and Radek Zelenka know for sure, but I know that there is mass speculation that Liz and I are together. Are we that obvious?" John questioned, "You only saw us together for a few minutes"

"To me, yes you are, but that's because I know you and how you act around women you are interested in. I'm pretty sure that everyone else is just going on pure speculation".

Before she could turn the conversation to another topic, he brought up a question she had hoped he wouldn't but knew he would once she brought up the subject. "So, do you have a boyfriend back on earth?"

Cami was silent for a second, before replying "I kind of did. We weren't very serious".

"What happened?"

"Well, since being shipped to another Galaxy tends to bring new definitions to the term 'long-distance relationship', I told him to move on, hopefully with someone who lives on the same planet" Cami replied, looking a bit sad.

John sat on Cami's bed, feeling bad at bringing up the subject now that he saw how thinking about her (ex) boyfriend made her sad. Then something she had said registered in his mind. "Wait, you said you told him to 'move on, hopefully with someone who lives on the same planet'? You didn't tell someone without security clearance did you?"

"No, he has security clearance, seeing as he works at the SGC"

"Works at the SGC? Do I know him?"

Cami looked at her brother with a bland expression, knowing full well that he did know him, but replying "probably not".

John smiled to himself, knowing that he wasn't going to get anything else out of Cami on this subject. Finally he voiced the reason he had come to her quarters in the first place. "So, about that tour, do you want it now, or would you rather wait and get a lesson on how to fly a Puddle Jumper?"

Cami's eyes lit up, "I want to go flying!"

"Well, lets go to the Jumper bay!" with that, John bounced out of Cami's room like a little kid in a candy store, and Cami scrambled after him a few seconds later.

* * *

I'll sing a song and dance a dance for every person who reviews! 


	3. Did What?

A re-posted, edited, choped and added to version of the original chapter three.

Disclaimer: StargateSG1/Atlantis belong to people with a ton more money than me, however, if you feel the need to give them to me for my birthday/christmas, feel free!

* * *

"Everyone set?" John queried from the pilots seat of Jumper One. It was two days later, and they were preparing to go through the gate to M9X 775.

The last day and a half had flown by in a flash for Cami, especially since John had popped in multiple times to drag her to be evaluated on weapons handling and marksmanship, not to mention she had been trying to set up her lab while having various members of the scientific contingent of Atlantis pop in to introduce themselves. By dinner time of her first day on Atlantis, news had spread about her arrival, and who exactly she was related to. This caused a bigger stir than the speculation about John and Elizabeth, and Cami suddenly found herself the subject of intense scrutiny, and some jealousy.

Fortunately for Cami, Teyla and Ronon (who Cami found to be more than a bit intimidating at first, but also instinctually trusted) took it upon themselves to help make her feel at home, giving her a full tour of Atlantis (because John had been called away after the flying lesson,before he could give it to her himself), and helping her catch up on everything that had happened on Atlantis that wasn't in mission reports. Cami also became fast friends with Carson during her first check-up, who was the only person she would allow to call her "Camilla", and strangely enough, Radek Zelenka, after he walked into her lab to find her cursing at a piece of equipment, in Czech. The two of them loved to drive Rodney nuts by talking around him in Czech, which caused them to be 'reprimanded' by Elizabeth after an irate Rodney complained about them.

In fact, Cami seemed to be settling right in on Atlantis, even though her easy acceptance into the group of top level personnel caused some jealousy among certain scientists, with the strongest dissenter being (surprise surprise) Kavanagh, who started the scuttlebutt that Cami wasn't qualified to be on Atlantis, and that her familial relationships were the only reason she was there. Fortunately, most people stopped listening to him after they met Cami personally.

Now John, Teyla, Ronon, Rodney and Cami were in Jumper One, awaiting final confirmation from Dr. Weir.

"Jumper One, you have a go" came the voice of Elizabeth over the radio.

"Dial it up" John said to Rodney, who complied. As soon as the wormhole connected and stabilized, John lowered the Jumper into the Gate Room, receiving one last transmission from Elizabeth before they went through the Gate.

"Good luck, and try to come back in one piece".

From her vantage point in the control room, Elizabeth watched the puddle jumper fly through the event horizon, whispering her traditional "be safe" as the little ship vanished from sight.

* * *

"Unscheduled Incoming Wormhole!" called out Zelenka, who had been working on some mainframe equipment at the time, as he activated the Gate's shield 

Elizabeth ran over from her office. "Who is it?" she called out as she stopped behind Zelenka. "No one is due back for at least two hours".

"We are receiving Colonel Shepard's IDC, along with a radio transmission: he says that they need a medical team in the jumper bay" the Czech replied.

"Lower the Shield" Elizabeth ordered. As Zelenka complied, Elizabeth radioed to the infirmary, "We need an emergency medical team to the Jumper Bay, we have injured personnel incoming".

"We are on our way" Dr. Beckett replied.

Two tense minutes later Jumper 1 came through the gate, immediately going through the retractable roof to the Jumper bay. Elizabeth ran up the stairs to find out what had happened leaving Dr. Zelenka to continue what he was doing.

Elizabeth ran into the Bay, where the medical team had already boarded the Jumper. Teyla and Ronon stood just outside the jumper, looking at what was going on inside. Elizabeth ran up beside them, looking into the Jumper's cargo bay in time to see an unconscious Camilla Shepard being loaded onto a stretcher by Carson and two helpers, another Doctor was looking over a very shaken Rodney, and a worried looking John watched.

"What happened?" Elizabeth exclaimed, but was ignored.

"I am fine" Rodney said as he batted at the doctor examining him.

"You were shot, Rodney" John replied, shaking his head in disbelief, watching his sister the whole while, concern rife on his face. "How is she?" he asked Carson.

Dr. Beckett looked over at John as the two helpers lifted the stretcher that Cami was on, "She appears to just be passed out, but I'll be able to tell you more when I run some tests". With that the Doctor followed the now moving stretcher out of the Jumper and down to the medical facility. Rodney, uncharacteristically ignoring the protests of the doctor who was examining him, stood up and started to walk to the infirmary.

Elizabeth blocked his way, crossing her arms over her chest. "I want to know what happened, and I want to know now".

John walked to her, grasped her gently by the elbow, and said "we will tell you when we get to the infirmary", turning her and walking away from the Jumper. Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla all followed.

As soon as they reached the infirmary, an incensed Elizabeth pulled John over to the side.

"Start talking right now John, or so help me God, I will make you regret it".

* * *

_Earlier that day…_

Cami stared at the Temple wall on M9X 775, reading the text that was engraved into the stone, with Rodney hung over her shoulder, trying to translate at the same speed as Cami and failing miserably,and John, Ronon, and Teyla walked around, keeping a lookout. The Puddle Jumper they had flown in was parked and cloaked about 100 meters from the Temple. Suddenly Cami stopped, stood up straight, and laughed, causing Rodney to jump.

"Oh, you are going to love this" the linguist said with a grin.

"What?" queried Rodney and John at the same time.

"Well, the writings say that something of great power and value is hidden here", Cami stepped closer to the wall, and started to push sections of stone mosaics inwards in a pattern that only made sense to her. "Care to take a guess what it is?" she questioned, pausing to look around at everyone before she pushed in a final section. Everyone turned and stared at her in amazed disbelief as a rumbling noise was heard, and a square of stone receded into wall and slid aside, revealing a ZPM. "All yours" Cami said, gesturing for Rodney to retrieve the precious item from the niche in the wall. The scientist stared at Cami like a six-year-old who just got told Christmas came early.

Just as Rodney had picked up the ZPM, John jerked back, looking outside of the temple. "We need to go now, there is a large group of armed people heading our way, and they don't look happy". Everyone readied their weapons and scrambled to make it back to the jumper, Rodney holding onto the precious ZPM as they ran.

"I thought this planet was uninhabited" Rodney puffed out as he ran.

"So did I" John replied tersely.

They were just twenty yards away from the safety of the jumper when the strangers started firing their guns. Ronon and John fell back to return fire. Cami raced ahead and opened the rear hatch, while Teyla urged Rodney to run faster.

Suddenly, Rodney fell, shot multiple times in the stomach. Ronon and John lifted him up as Teyla covered them and grabbed the dropped ZPM.

"Cami, get this thing in the air right now!" yelled John as they came up the back hatch. Cami dove for the controls, powering up the jumper as soon as she sat down, and lifting them into the air while the rear hatch was still closing.

John and Ronon laid a now unconscious Rodney, who had mercifully passed out from the pain, down on the floor of the jumper as Teyla grabbed the first aid kit. As soon as he had set Rodney down, John hurried up to the pilot's chair, switching places with Cami, who hurried back to Rodney.

"We are 20 minutes away from the Gate, do you think he will last that long?" John asked as he tried to get the jumper to move faster.

"He's been shot in the stomach, John, is there any way to get there faster?" Cami asked as she cut Rodney's shirt open, and started to press down on the multiple wounds to his abdomen.

"I'm already at maximum speed Cami" John replied beck tersely, knowing what Cami was trying not to mention: that most gunshot wounds to the stomach resulted in a very painful death in less than 15 minutes.

Teyla had knelt down across from Cami, helping to staunch the flow of blood coming from the scientist. "Is there anything we can do?" the Athosian asked.

"I don't know Teyla, we need to try and stop the bleeding. John, how long until we reach the gate?"

"About 18 minutes"

Cami mentally added it up. 18 minutes to get back to the gate, another two or three to land in the jumper bay, and then however long it would take to get Rodney to the infirmary. The Scientist had barely half that time before his body succumbed to septic shock. In a split second Cami made up her mind, ignoring the internal voices that were screaming for her to not do what she was going to do.

"Teyla, stand back" Cami commanded. Looking the shocked woman in the eyes, she added "please, trust me". Teyla complied, standing up and backing into Ronon.

"I hope this works" Cami muttered to herself as she spread her fingers over the area Rodney had been hit, closed her eyes, and concentrated.

Teyla and Ronon stared in shock, as they watched Rodney slowly stop bleeding, his wounds healing before their very eyes. His eyes opened up, and a very startled "What?" came out of his mouth before Cami opened her eyes again, pulling back her hands to reveal a completely unharmed Rodney.

"Please" whispered a very pale and weak looking Cami, "Don't. Tell….anyone…" and with that her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell over unconscious.

"What the hell is going on back there? John yelled from up front.

* * *

Elizabeth stared at John, and then looked at Teyla and Ronan, who had added in bits and pieces to the story that she had just been told. 

"Rodney was shot, dieing, and Cami _healed_ him." Elizabeth said with a look of pure disbelief on her face. "Please excuse me if I find this a bit hard to swallow".

"I'm having a hard time believing what happened, and I saw it with my own two eyes" replied Ronon, as Carson walked over to them from where he had been examining a very shaken Rodney.

"They are both fine. Rodney shows no sign of any injury whatsoever, and Camilla should regain consciousness soon, she only appears to have passed out". The Scot paused, about to say something else, when he was cut off by Cami suddenly jolting up from the bed she was on, wide eyed and gasping. Everyone crowded around her, while Carson eased her back onto the bed, checking her vitals.

"How are you feeling, luv?" he asked.

"I have a bit of a headache, but it will go away after about twenty minutes" Cami replied, calming down now that she knew where she was. She sat up, pulling her knees up to her chest and crossing her arms around them.

"How do you know when your headache will go away?" Elizabeth asked, slightly confused. Cami looked down and shrugged.

"You have healed someone before?" Teyla asked, laying her hand on the younger woman's arm. Cami nodded, still looking down.

"Who? When?" John and Elizabeth asked at the same time, Elizabeth curious, and John sounding slightly mad.

Cami mumbled something too quietly for anyone to hear.

"What?" John said, sounding impatient.

"Daniel" reiterated Cami in a voice hardly much above a whisper.

"Jackson?" again, Elizabeth and John spoke in unison. They looked at each other and smiled before returning their attention to Cami.

"Yes, Daniel Jackson" reiterated Cami, finally looking up for a brief second before putting her head back down. "They promised not to tell anyone"

"Who?" yet again John and Elizabeth spoke in unison, causing everyone to smile, even Cami for a brief second before she got serious again.

"Well, Daniel obviously, but Sam, Teal'c and Jack all know too. That's why I was sent here by Stargate: They were worried that if anyone found out the powers-that-be over at the Pentagon, or worse: the Rogue NID, would have me turned into a lab-rat before the Daedalus could bring me here".

Everyone stared for a moment, before Rodney, who had left his bed and joined them at Cami's, broke in.

"Thank you, you saved my life" he sounded uncharacteristically humble. "But are you sure you actually fixed me? No internal bleeding or anything that will kill me slowly?" now Rodney sounded more like his typical hypochondriac self.

"Yes I'm sure I fixed you, and you're welcome" Cami replied as she swung her legs off the bed and stood up, "now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go get back to work".

"Sit back down!" John said sternly, blocking Cami's way. "You aren't going anywhere until the good Doctor says you can".

"I'm fine, Dr. Beckett said so himself!" Cami shot right back, still standing toe-to-toe with John.

"Aye, I did, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to run some tests" Carson replied, causing Cami to groan and slump back onto the bed.

"What sort of test's?"

"Well, I'm going to give you the standard exam we give to everyone when they come back through the gate, but I'd also like to give you an MRI".

"After that can I go?" Cami questioned.

"As soon as I confirm that you are as healthy as ever. Don't worry lass, I'm not going to lock you up like a test animal, I just want to do the MRI as a precaution".

Cami gave the Doctor an appraising look, finally capitulating with an "ok, I trust you".

Carson turned to everyone else standing around, "Rodney, get back in bed, you aren't leaving here until I am positive that you don't have any internal injuries. Colonel, Teyla, Ronan, you three know the drill, you don't get to leave until you get checked out".

* * *

see that little purple button down in the left-hand corner? clicking it makes all writers very happy people! 


	4. Lab Talk

Hello all! Just a warning: If you have just skipped ahead to chapter 4, you may want to go back and re-read chapters 1,2,and 3 because they have been revised/edited/chopped/and added to, and therefore some things have changed.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I have taken your suggestions/corrections into account during my editing, and thanks for pointing them out!

I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit short or a touch incomplete: I start a theme in this chapter that will be resolved next chapter (Which was supposed to be part of this chapter, but is taking me a while to write)

To those of you who have complained: English is not my first, or even my second, language. I'm sorry if I sometimes make stupid grammar mistakes, but c'est la vie.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Torri Higginson, Joe Flannigan, David Hewlett, Paul McGillion, Rachel Lutrell, Jason Momoa, David Nykl... I think you get the point: I am a starving college student who barely has enough money to buy my monthly supply of Ramen, so don't sue me!

* * *

Two hours later Carson Beckett looked up from his computer screen. He had sent the members of Colonel Sheppard's team on their way more than an hour ago, and had spent the intermittent time looking through the results of the tests he had run on Camilla.

Using knowledge gleaned from the mission reports about the Ancient woman known as Ayana, who had been found frozen in stasis on Earth near the site where the Antarctic gate had been found, reports from when then Colonel O'Neill had been turning Ancient because of the Repository of Knowledge un-spooling in his head, and the test results from when Chaya had come to Atlantis, Carson was starting to theorize about Camilla. So far as he could tell, the only thing out of the ordinary about Camilla were that scans of her brain showed slightly higher activity levels in certain areas than the average person. It really was a very slight anomaly, which he would have overlooked normally. On a random whim, Carson pulled up Colonel Sheppard's most recent MRI and placed it side-by-side with Dr. Sheppard's.

Looking back and forth between the two sets of scans, Carson Beckett started checking the MRI's of other people with the ATA gene, natural or gene therapy induced, and started to ponder.

* * *

Later that night Elizabeth Weir paused at the open door to Dr. Sheppard's lab, watching the oblivious linguist who was surrounded by three laptops: reading from one, typing on the second, and wearing a set of headphones attached to the third. Still unaware she was being watched, Cami paused her work for a moment, leaning on the table in front of her and rubbing her temples. She was cracking her neck when she noticed Elizabeth standing in the doorway. 

"I'm sorry Dr. Weir, I didn't notice you standing there" Cami said as she removed her headphones and paused the song she had been listening to.

"It's alright, I've only been here for a minute. I hope I'm not disturbing you?" Elizabeth replied, hesitating to enter the room.

"Not at all, come on in" Cami said as she waved the expedition leader in. "Welcome to my humble abode. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Oh, nothing in particular, I was just dropping by to see how you're settling in" Elizabeth replied as she took up a spot across the lab table from Cami.

Before Cami could reply, Rodney came bursting into the room.

"Cami, good, you're still here: I need you to take a look at this for me" the temerarious scientist said as he thrust his data pad right under Cami's nose.

The younger scientist grabbed the pad before it dropped, spared it a glance, and handed it back to Rodney. "Wrong Sheppard".

"What?" Rodney replied, just a touch miffed.

"You have the wrong Sheppard" Cami reiterated before adding like an afterthought "my brother is the math genius, not me".

Elizabeth watched on in amusement as Rodney tried to figure out what Cami was, or rather wasn't, telling him.

"What do you mean I have 'the wrong Sheppard'? You're a linguist, right? Well, that's in Ancient, what does it say!"

"It doesn't say anything: It's a mathematical equation" Cami replied exasperated, "at least, I think it is. Like I said, My brother is the math genius, not me".

"May I take a look?" Elizabeth asked, taking the proffered data pad as Rodney wordlessly handed it over. Looking it over for a moment, she handed it back to Rodney. "It does appear to be a complex equation, but I'm surprised you didn't know that yourself Rodney, you have a firm enough grasp on Ancient to know numbers when you see them". Elizabeth gave him an amused look.

"I did know, I wanted to make sure Dr. Sheppard here did." Rodney replied, looking a touchsheepish at getting caught testing Cami. A radio transmission interrupted him before he could say anything else.

"Rodney?"

"Yes Radek?"

"Kavanagh has been 'annoying' Miko again, do you want to handle it, or should I?" the Czech asked.

"I'll do it, I'm on my way" he replied tersely. With that, Rodney dashed out of the lab, causing Elizabeth to smile. Cami looked at her, a touch confused.

"Why would Rodney have to stop Kavanagh from annoying Dr. Kusanagi?"

"Because, despite her diminutive size and deferential attitude, Dr. Miko Kusanagi is a third Dan black-belt in Karate, with a very limited Kavanagh tolerance. The last time Dr. Kavanagh 'annoyed' her, she knocked him out for two hours". Elizabeth smiled, adding "most people wish she would do it more often, and many of our military personnel are scared to spar with her".

"My brother included?" Cami asked with a grin.

Elizabeth laughed. "your brother spars mostly with Teyla and Ronon, which either proves he has no fear, or he likes getting his ass kicked". Both women laughed.

"I think it has to be option number two Dr. Weir" Cami said, still grinning at the thought of her brother getting knocked around by Ronon.

"Call me Elizabeth, Dr. Sheppard"

Giving the older woman an appraising look, Cami replied "Please, call me Cami. The only people who called me "Dr." anything, were my students"

"Sounds good Cami. Well it's getting late, I'll let you finish up whatever you were doing" Elizabeth said.

"It's nothing important, I was going to head off to bed soon anyways" Cami replied.

"Well, goodnight" Elizabeth said as she headed to the door.

"You're good for him, you know" Cami said quietly, causing Elizabeth to turn back towards her and give her a questioning look. "He really loves you"

"John told me that he told you about our relationship" Elizabeth stated, watching the younger woman, trying to discern her feelings on the matter. Opening her mouth to speak, Cami interrupted her.

"I'm alright with it, if that's what you were going to ask. Of all the people in this city, and after all you've been through in the past two years, you two deserve to be happy more than almost anyone else" Cami said with a small smile. Standing up, she walked over to where Elizabeth was by the door.

"Just don't break his heart, Elizabeth"

Elizabeth looked Cami straight in the eyes, "I would never do that, Cami".

"Good, because I'm going to hold you to that. Goodnight" breaking eye contact, Cami slipped out the door.

"Goodnight" Elizabeth called after her, before she turned and headed back to her office.

* * *

To use a Jack O'Neill quote : "well, so, what?" please press that little button that says "Review"! 


	5. Saturday

Hey everyone, I'm sorry about the complete and utter lack of updates. I've had a lot of stuff going on with school and whatnot, not to mention the plot bunnies abandoned me for a while. I had a different chapter planned, but my serious craving for sunlight and warm weather produced this! I hope y'all enjoy it, and I should be able to update soon!

Alex Ramsey appears courtesy of BiteMeTechie

* * *

It was 10am Saturday, a few days after the late-night conversation Cami and Elizabeth had had in Cami's lab, and Cami went looking for Elizabeth in the one place you were pretty much guaranteed to find her: her office. Waving hi to Chuck the Canadian gate technician as she passed through the control room, Cami crossed the bridge to Dr. Weir's office and paused in the doorway, knocking.

Elizabeth stopped rubbing her temples and looked up from the laptop she had been staring at with a frown, and gestured the younger woman into her office with a wan smile. "What can I do for you Cami?" Elizabeth asked as she leaned back in her chair.

Cami sat down in one of the chairs opposite Elizabeth. "Teyla and I, plus a few others, are planning on going out on one of the piers for swimming and sunbathing, and we wanted to invite you along with us".

Elizabeth was going to say no, she really was, but then she glanced down at the mind-numbingly boring report she had been struggling to read, and decided that putting off one report wouldn't cause the city to collapse. Looking back up at the younger woman opposite her, in a moment of uncharacteristic triviality Elizabeth replied "when and where!"

* * *

Forty minutes later they had all gathered on the south pier, where the ancients had handily created what John had oh-so originally christened a "Lantean Infinity pool": it was an irregular pentagon that gradually sloped from three to twelve feet deep, complete with a "diving board" and a wall that separated it from the sea while allowing water to cascade out as the filtration system pumped more in. It was the beginning of summer on Lantea, the planet that Atlantis was on, and the temperature was already in the high 80's.

Cami laid out her towel on one of the lounge chairs that someone had smuggled onto the Daedalus, right between the chair that Teyla had claimed, and the one that Elizabeth had just perched herself on. Surprisingly, Alex Ramsey as already in the water trying to coax Radek in, a bikini-clad Teyla was sitting back watching John (whose hair was as spiky as ever, despite being wet) and Ronon plot to overturn the float that Rodney was lounging on, and Carson was sitting on his chair slapping more sunscreen on.

"Well, what are you two still doing out there!" the very British voice of Atlantis' head chef called from the water to Cami and Elizabeth. "The water's lovely, now get in here before we have the gents toss you in!"

Cami just grinned at her favorite Brit, and pulled off her t-shirt, revealing a pink and green hibiscus-print cropped halterkini top. After shucking her jeans, Cami turned to Elizabeth who had also removed her clothes, revealing a dark red bikini, and had stretched out on her chair with a book. "coming in?" Cami questioned.

Elizabeth looked up from her book, and replied "not right now, maybe later".

Cami checked that her hair was still securely wrapped in a bun on the top of her head before entering the water. "Hey Alex, you were right the water's great!" she said as she waded over to the raft that a spluttering Rodney had just been tossed off by John and Ronon and hopped onto it. She had relaxed and let her eyes close, lounging in the warm sun, listening to her co-workers act like kids, when her peace and quiet was abruptly interrupted by someone picking her up and tossing her into the deep-end of the pool.

"John, you jackass!" Cami shouted the second she surfaced, "I didn't want to get my hair wet!" Cami smacked her grinning brother on the arm as she swam past him to the steps out of the pool.

"Oh c'mon Cami, don't be such a spoilsport and leave just because I made you get your hair wet!" John replied as he watched his sister get out of the pool.

Cami went to her chair and fiddled with her hair, removing the elastics and pins that had held it up. "I'm not leaving, you idiot, I'm taking the stuff out of my hair!" And with that Cami pulled out the final elastic band, tossing it on her chair, letting her hair uncoil and cascade down to her mid-back. John had hopped out of the pool and come up to stand next to Elizabeth, who had watched the entire interchange with an amused expression.

"Nice hair" John said to Cami, who gave him a dirty look and walked back to the pool, from his station on the other side of Elizabeth's chair. "Are you coming in?" he said to Elizabeth from his position blocking her sun and dripping water on her.

"Maybe later" Elizabeth said as she went back to her book. Thirty seconds later her book was snatched from her hands, and she was swooped up into John's arms, who proceeded to walk towards the pool despite Elizabeth's protestations.

"John Sheppard, put me down right now or I swear you won't see the inside of a Puddle Jumper for months!" Elizabeth yelled as she swatted at John's chest.

"Ok, I'll let you down then!" and the next thing Elizabeth knew she was being tossed into the pool.

"JOHNATHAN ALEXANDER SHEPPARD!" Elizabeth yelled on the top of her lungs when she surfaced, looking mad as hell. Anyone who had been chuckling stopped, and everyone watched with bated breath waiting for whatever would happen next. "You are so dead!" Elizabeth surprised everyone by laughing and splashing at John, who decided to canon-ball into the pool.

They spent the next few hours like that; playing around in the water, enjoying the sunshine and the day off from the perils of the Pegasus Galaxy.

* * *

Later that evening, Cami, John, Elizabeth, Teyla, Ronon, Rodney, Carson, and Radek (Alex had had to go back to the kitchens to supervise dinner, but had given them a large plate of her famous chocolate-chip cookies as a rain-check) sat around the TV in Atlantis' "Movie Room". They had just finished watching "The Incredibles", which strangely enough was Rodney's choice, and had led to snide comments and outright mockery of the whole movie. They were still munching on popcorn, and downing liberal amounts of the homebrew the Athosian's produced on the mainland and the whisky that Radek 'secretly' produced in his lab, which was making some of the group members funnier than usual, specifically the scientists. It also brought up subjects for discussion.

"So, if you could have any Superpower, what would it be?" was the question posed by an inebriated Radek Zelenka, his accent getting thicker the more he drank.

"I'd fly" John said immediately, causing almost everyone in in the room to snicker.

"Thank you, Colonel Obvious. No one could have possibly known that" Cami commented, her voice dripping in sarcasm, as she threw some popcorn at her brother, trying not to hit Elizabeth, who was curled up with him on the other half of the couch they were sharing.

"It's a Bird, it's a Plane, It's a Lt. Colonel!" quipped Radek with a good impersonation of a (drunken Czech) TV game show announcer's voice. Everyone was outright laughing at this, even Teyla and Ronan, who didn't really understand the cliché.

"I wouldn't want a superpower: I am already blessed with extraordinary genius, and that is superpower enough for me" smugly piped up Rodney from his spot on the floor in front of Cami. Everyone went silent at this proclamation, until Rodney was suddenly pelted with popcorn from all sides.

After everyone stopped dumping popcorn on Rodney, Elizabeth spoke up with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Cami, do you have any good stories about our beloved Military Commander from when he was younger?"

Cami replied with an evil grin, "Oh, do I ever". Now that she had the attention of everyone in the room, she continued. "Well, for starters, John used to drive a puke green Ford Pinto with wood paneling on the sides". Everyone from Earth gagged at the thought, while John glared daggers at his sister from over Elizabeth's head.

"I loved that car" John interjected.

"And you were the only person in existence that did" Cami replied.

"What is a 'Ford Pinto'?" Ronon asked, looking intrigued, "and what is the significance of the wood paneling?"

"Ford is a company that makes cars, and the Pinto was one of the varieties you could buy 40 years ago. The wood paneling just signifies that it was an uncommonly ugly car" explained Rodney, earning him some more popcorn thrown at him by John.

"And then there is the whole story of his senior prank…" added Cami as she took another sip of her drink.

"Oh no, what did he do?" Elizabeth asked the curiosity tangible in her voice.

"Oh nothing much, they just took the principle's car and stuck it on the school's flagpole" Cami replied nonchalantly. Before anyone could comment on this revelation, John decided to start firing back.

"Hey Cami, didn't you put 200 packets of blue fabric dye into the school swimming pool one year?"

Cami came right back with "What about the three greased pigs you set loose, that were numbered 1,2, and 4?"

Soon it became an all out war between the Sheppard siblings as to who could tell the worst/funniest thing the other had done, as everyone watched with a strange combination of shock and awe, with the occasional explanation to Teyla and Ronan about such things as blue dye in a swimming pool; greased pigs and the significance of how they were numbered; roosters in a school assembly; what crickets are, and what 2000 of them would do to a basketball game; a nine foot tall stuffed Golden Bear in a locked and sealed glass display case that mysteriously got dressed in a kilt, Mardi Gras beads, sunglasses, and with an empty tequila bottle super-glued to one paw. Soon John pulled out all the stops:

"Oh yeah? What about that time you blew up your High School's football field? John shot at her, arms crossed over his chest, eyes flashing with amusement.

"Excuse me? Who was it that taught me how to make Napalm in the first place, and then got me a fuse!" Cami retorted, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Napalm?" Elizabeth said incredulously, turning to look John in the eyes. "You taught your then 14 year old sister how to make _Napalm_?"

"Actually, I was 12 at the time" Cami put in with a grin and a wink to her elder brother. John just met Elizabeth's gaze with a "meh" shrug

The shocked silence was broken when Elizabeth started shaking, trying to contain the giggles that were consuming her whole body. Finally, she let go and started roaring, causing everyone to stare at their normally composed commander, who was turning red, with tears streaming down her face as she choked out the disjointed words "Twelve", "Napalm" and "Boom". Eventually everyone joined in, Rodney and Radek laughing nearly as hard as Elizabeth.


	6. Letters Home Epiphany

Hello everyone, I'm so sorry that I've been so lax on updateing! Blame my plot bunnies: they either spawned ideas for all my other stories, nudged me towards my visual artwork, or they abandoned me completely!

Anywho, in my last chapter I wrongly credited BiteMeTechie with ownership of Alex Ramsey, when in fact she is the mad creation of Reefgirl. I beg everyone's forgiveness, I must have had a blonde moment.

once again, I had no beta (anyone interested?), so please forgive me any mistakes, although I think I caught them all.

(very vague) spoilers for ep 2.12 - Epiphany.

aaaaand: Major Lorne makes an appearance! I checked GateWorld (since they are practically the Stargate Encyclopedia) for Lorne's first name, but they didn't have it listed, so I went with Evan, which I think is his name (I know I read it somewhere, and it's either Evan, or Marcus, I can't remember!). If not, please tell me and I'll correct it!

* * *

Camilla Sheppard was sitting on her bed, bored out of her mind, waiting for news about her brother. She had been off-world with Major Lorne's team examining some ruins on an uninhabited planet, and had learned about her brother's current predicament when they had returned, since everyone was running around trying to prepare a rescue. 

_Stupid Idiot! _Cami thought to herself, flopping back on her bed and staring at the ceiling. _Why does he always have to be the person that rushes blindly into things? And now look what he's gotten himself into: A time-dilation field, for-cryin'-out-loud! I've spent enough time here around Rodney and Radek to know exactly what one of those is. _

_I don't know why I'm so surprised. Hell, I've read enough of both SG1 and AG1's mission reports to know that my brother is the Jack O'Neill of the Pegasus Galaxy! Jack even warned me, told me that I'd have to grow a thick skin being around personnel that go through the 'Gate on a regular basis, because Murphy's Law is the only known law that constantly applies whenever 'Gate travel is involved… Ugh, I've got to find something to do, before I go crazy_

Cami rolled off her bed and looked around her quarters, her gaze finally settling on her personal laptop. _I guess I could write letters to friends back home, and send them along with the next data-burst._ Grabbing her laptop, Cami walked over to the far wall and went through the open doors to her balcony, sitting down on the chaise lounge she had managed to smuggle in from the pool area. After her laptop booted up, Cami opened a blank word document and started tapping at the keyboard.

_**To: **Anna Moore (AMoore Faculty. Harvard. Edu)_

_**From: **Camilla Sheppard _

_**Subject: **Hi!_

_**Body:**_

_Dear Anna_

_How are you? How is everything? Your family, the professor, everyone? I know it has been a while, but honestly, I really miss you. I'm sorry I haven't written sooner, but it took me a while to settle in. _

_I wish I could tell you what I am doing, but all I can really tell you is that I am working for an International research project generally overseen by the United States military, and due to the classified nature of the project it will be very hard to contact me, but not impossible. E-mail's I can probably (hopefully) get once a week, but snail-mail will take about a month. Fair warning, everything I send you is going to be looked over by military censors; ditto goes for anything you send me. They just want to make sure that nothing classified that could compromise the project will get leaked._

_I wish you were here Anna, you would love it. The people here are the best and brightest of their fields from all over the world, with a finger in every pie you can imagine, and a few I can guarantee you've never thought of even in your wildest dreams!_

_How is teaching treating you? I know you were nervous about teaching a bunch of "Preppy Ivy Yuppies", but I'm sure you are doing fine! Just remember that you are the one in charge, and to not let them take advantage of you because you are not much older than them. BTW, are you still working at the bar?_

_How are Apollo and Artemis? Are they still getting along ok with Tiny? Thanks again for looking after them for me. It's a weight off my chest knowing that they are safe and with someone who will take care of them._

_Well, I've got to run, I'll write again as soon as I can! Give my love to everyone and give Artemis and Apollo kisses from me!_

_Love_

_Cami._

Cami re-read the letter and saved it, too frustrated about how little she could say about anything to write to anyone else. She didn't want to mention any names, in case other people had different cover stories, and she definitely couldn't mention the City or anything in it. _This was so much easier when I was on Earth and I could just pick up a phone and call people, and if they asked questions I could just be vague and they'd drop it._

Cami slapped the lid of the laptop closed, bounced up off of the lounge chair, and re-entered her quarters, gently tossing the computer onto her bed. She was too keyed up to get any real work done, so she had one more option: the gym. She quickly changed into some work-out clothes, checked that her hair was still braided into the knot she had put it in for the mission, and stuffed some supplies into a small bag, including her practice Sai's. After putting on her running shoes, she snatched up the bag and her iPod and headed towards the gym. Something told Cami that she wasn't going to relax about the off-world situation untill she beat the crap out of something, or her brother came home, whichever one came first.

* * *

Major Evan Lorne, as the ranking military officer in Colonel Sheppard's absence, was investigating reports of a scientist-type; no one there at the time knew her name, in one of the gyms scaring the crap out of his fellow marines. Apparently she had been beating the stuffing out of a punching bag, and had then progressed to working with "these crazy knife things like that chick used in the movie Dare-Devil", and was ignoring any attempts at communication. In fact, the marines who reported the odd behavior had left that gym once the scientist started stabbing and throwing her "knife things" at a target dummy, afraid that they might be her next targets. 

Palming open the door to the gym in question, Evan stared at the scientist-type who was causing such a stir: It was Dr. Sheppard. She was alone in the gym, and oblivious of the opened door and his presence, dressed in a cropped air-force t-shirt and shorts, with a set of dog-tags hanging around her neck. The same Dr. Sheppard who had just accompanied his team on their reconnaissance mission earlier that day, and had initially struck him as being one of the quiet types, untill she joined the other men on his team in telling bawdy jokes; jokes he knew that his team mates where telling to see whether or not the new scientist had a sense of humor, and/or if they could make her blush. _She's also the Colonel's sister_ Evan thought to himself,_ which, given the current situation, is probably why she's down here._

Evan walked over to where the linguist was single-mindedly kicking at a bag with her back to him, and gently tapped on her shoulder. The next thing he knew, he was slamming into the ground flat on his back with a Sai pointed at his throat, having just been thrown through the air by the arm he had used to tap Dr. Sheppard on the shoulder with, the younger woman standing over him, the look in her eyes rapidly changing from 'cold' to 'embarrassed'.

Cami quickly removed the head-phones from her ears and paused her iPod in what seemed to be a microsecond, and was tucking the Sai back into the back of her waistband along with its mate as she babbled "Oh my God, Major, I'm so sorry! It was just reflex to…" she trailed off, flushing with embarrassment, and holding out an empty hand to the still prone Major in a silent offer to help him up.

Evan took the proffered hand and staggered to his feet, still just a bit winded from slamming into the (albeit padded) ground of the gym. "It's my fault, I should have known better than to sneak up on you like that". Evan paused for a second, taking in Dr. Sheppard's disheveled appearance: strands of her hair had broken loose from their braids and were either plastered to her face or sticking up at random angles, she had bruises developing on her arms and legs, and her knuckles were bloody through the tape she had wrapped them in. "How long have you been down here?" he asked, concerned.

Cami looked down at her wrist where her watch would normally be, remembering that she had taken it off and put it on her gear-bag. Walking over to the room's benches where everyone stowed their gear, she stored her Sai, grabbed her watch, and turned back to the Major "about an hour and ten minutes. Is there any news?"

"None yet" Evan watched the doctor's face fall just a bit before she schooled her expression back to neutrality, "but the rescue mission only left an hour ago, and I understand that it is a bit of a trek to where the portal is".

"Yeah, and in that hour my brother could have aged months!" Cami cut in harshly, finally vocalizing her frustration. "For all I know, by the time Rodney figures this out, John will have died of old-age!" she spun around and threw a few more punches at the nearest bag.

Evan gently grabbed her left wrist, stopping the doctor before she could throw another punch, and turned her towards him. "And you injuring yourself more is going to help how?" he questioned, his voice quiet. "We never leave our people behind, no matter what, and we sure as hell aren't going to start now".

Cami looked down at the floor, hoping that the Major wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. "I know. It's just that it's so hard to sit here, not able to do anything to help".

Before Evan could reply, his radio crackled to life.

_"Major Lorne? The rescue team has just dialed in"_ came the voice of Chuck the Gate technician.

Evan held a finger up to the doctor, gesturing to his radio as he activated it. "What's their status?" the doctor looked up, a mixture of hope and fear in her eyes.

_"They report that the mission has been a success, and that Colonel Sheppard is as good as ever and on board. They estimate an ETA of ten minutes"_ replied Chuck, relief evident in his voice.

"Good. I'll be up to Command ASAP, Lorne out." Evan tapped his radio again, turning it off and turning his attention back to the doctor. "Everyone's…"

"I know, I could hear" Cami replied, a smile breaking out on her face, relief flooding her body.

Evan smiled back at her, relieved that the doctor no longer looked like she was going to continue beating inanimate objects. "Hey, let me walk you up to the infirmary so that the Doc's can take a look at those bruises and patch up your hands" he said, gesturing at the doctor's bloody hands.

Cami looked down at her hands, flexing them and wincing inwardly at the pain she hadn't noticed untill now. "No need" she smiled at the Major, "I heal pretty quickly; most of this will be gone in a few hours" she added truthfully as she gathered up her gear-bag.

"Well, would you let me walk you to your quarters, doctor?" Evan asked as he waited politely for her.

"Sure, Major. And by the way, it's Cami: being called "doctor" makes me feel old" Cami replied, her usual manners and attitude returning now that she knew her brother and his team was safe.

"Evan", Evan replied with a smile and a nod as they walked out of the gym and down the hall together, followed by the interested looks from the Marines "loitering" in that general area. Evan thanked whatever higher powers there were that the Marines hadn't seen Cami toss him earlier, he would never hear the end of it if they had!

Evan left Cami outside her quarters a few minutes later, continuing on to the Command Tower to welcome the rescue mission back, while Cami went into her quarters to take a shower and change into clean clothes. Tossing her gear-bag onto a chair, Cami went into her bathroom and stood at the sink. Very carefully she unwrapped her hands, wincing when the tape pulled at her injured skin, finally revealing raw and bloody knuckles. She carefully washed her hands, before gently patting them dry.

Holding her now clean hands palms down in front of her, Cami closed her eyes and focused for a moment, a peculiar feeling of warmth radiating from her hands. After the feeling faded Cami opened her eyes, revealing that her formerly raw knuckles were now the pink of new skin, though she was now leaning against the counter-top, feeling faint, dizzy, and as if she had just sprinted a mile. _I guess I'd better get used to that_ Cami thought to herself as she waited for her head to clear.

Thirty minutes later Cami had taken her shower, dressed, and was braiding her damp hair into French pig-tails, which she then twisted and knotted together to make a bun. Finally making sure that the last pin has in place, Cami stood up, planning to go grab a bite to eat, when her laptop caught her eye. Grabbing it from her bed, Cami quickly started it up and wrote one more e-mail to be sent in the data-burst tomorrow:

_**To: **Major General Jack O'Neill_

_**From: **Dr. Camilla J. Sheppard_

_**Subject: **A question for you…_

_**Body:**_

_Dear General O'Neill,_

_Does it ever get easier? _

_Sincerely_

_Camilla Sheppard_

* * *

ok, that's it for this one. I would be greatly appreaciative if you would please review! 


	7. Football

_I still don't own SGA, don't sue me!_

* * *

Things on Atlantis were calm. The weekly check-in with earth had happened earlier that day, and almost all the base personnel were looking forward to the next day, which was their day off for the week.

Suddenly shattering the general quiet of the labs, a bloodcurdling screech erupted from the office of one Dr. Camilla Sheppard, causing Ronon, Teyla, and Major Lorne, who all happened to all be nearby, to dash into the room expecting the worse. To their surprise Cami appeared to be alright, although, to Teyla and Ronon's minds at least, she was very strangely dressed in jeans, a big red shirt with the number 33 and "Laurinaitis" printed on it in white, and a necklace made out of what appeared to be large nuts of some kind, instead of her usual Atlantis uniform.

She was also bouncing up and down yelling "yes yes yes yes yes!", staring at the screen of her laptop, completely oblivious to the now growing number of Atlantis personnel who crowded into the doorway to find out what the commotion was all about.

"Cami?" Teyla called out to the younger woman.

Camilla Sheppard spun around, a shit-eating grin lighting up her face. "Teyla! Ronan! Evan! We won! We won! We Won!" she exuberantly shouted as she dashed across the room and first hugged the older woman, then Ronan and Lorne, all the while bouncing and yelling "we won!".

The next thing they knew, Cami had disappeared out of her office and down the hall still loudly celebrating the victory, leaving the trio stunned in her wake.

"What was she babbling about?" a puzzled Ronon asked Lorne.

"And why was she wearing a necklace made of nuts?" Teyla interjected.

Lorne walked over to Cami's laptop, which was ready to replay a file named "osumich.vid", and started laughing. "Teyla, I think that Ohio State University just beat the University of Michigan in football".

Teyla and Ronon nodded in understanding, having gotten a thorough grounding in Earth's major sports and rivalries from various expedition members during their time with the Tau'ri. Teyla smiled and shook her head again

"but that still does not explain the significance of the nuts"

Evan laughed, and started explaining about team mascots as they left Cami's lab.

* * *

_I've been gone for a long time due to unforeseen circumstances, one of which was the motherboard going out on my computer (causing me to loose most of what I had written for future chapters- not to mention season 4 dashing all of my shippy hopes), plus lots of other stuff in my personal life._

_ This is just a short chapter written in celebration of my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes beating Michigan (Since Cami is just as big a BuckNut as I am), a rivalry that has been going on for more than 100 years, and is considered to be one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports._

_I plan on updateing soon, it all just depends on how my muses move me (they give me more ideas for some ep's than others!)_


	8. authors note

Hey everybody, I thought I should post an update since no one here can read my mind (however, if you can read my mind, I offer you my sincerest condolences for being able to do so).

I apologize for my lack of updates, but I decided to wait for "Outcast" before I posted any more chapters because I want to stay as true to cannon as possible. Due to the direction the show has been moving in, I have decided to re-write all previous chapters of this fic before posting new chapters (which I have to re-write too). The tone and general plotlines will remain pretty much the same, but much of the shipping will be toned-down/gone, and hopefully I'll have a a few revised chapters next week-ish (it depends on how often the Nazi's at work call me in).

Until then!

Akima


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